Refinery workers, members of the United Steelworkers union striking at the Tesoro plants in Carson, yell at a bus load of replacement workers coming in to start a shift. (Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer)

The United Steelworkers union picketed for a second day at Tesoro’s Carson refinery and eight other U.S. oil production facilities Monday after contract negotiations came to a grinding halt for the first time in 35 years.

The union initiated the strike early Sunday, saying that Tesoro wasn’t negotiating fairly and that the company wasn’t taking seriously concerns about worker safety at some facilities.

For its part, Tesoro said USW unfairly went on strike without good cause and without a required 24-hour notice period. Contract talks came to an abrupt end at 12:01 a.m. Sunday because of differences over pay, benefits and safety issues. The two parties were unable to resolve their disputes in a meeting Monday afternoon.

The last time USW had a nationwide strike was in 1980, when workers refused to come back to work for three months.

“The 1980 strike was over wages but this isn’t about economic issues, it’s about health and safety,” said Dave Campbell, secretary-treasurer of USW Local 675. “It’s also different in the sense that this is an unfair labor practice strike. We don’t think Tesoro bargained fairly.”

Campbell said the union is prepared to strike as long as it needs to. USW has a war chest of about $250 million to keep workers solvent in the meantime, he said.

The Carson location and Tesoro’s Martinez facility are the only two in California on strike. Workers at three Texas refineries also have walked off the job, along with those at a cogeneration facility, where waste is used to generate electricity, and a chemical plant. Tesoro’s Anacortes Refinery in Washington and a Kentucky facility also are on strike.

USW represents 65 U.S. refineries, which it says represents about two-thirds of the industry. Its nine strike sites account for about 10 percent of nationwide production, but managers and contractors have taken over the work at most of the sites, Tesoro officials said.

“Our talented and qualified Tesoro employees are prepared to run our refineries,” company spokeswoman Brissa Sotelo said. “The people who are conducting the operations are the same ones who provide technical support to the facilities, supervise the current operators on a daily basis and train them how to safely operate the refinery.”

Tesoro’s adjacent Wilmington refinery is running as normal, but Campbell said that the contractors and managers now running the Carson site aren’t trained properly and that it is a danger to the community.

Campbell said Tesoro officials didn’t honor worker contracts with BP, and has been implementing demanding work schedules that are jeopardizing their safety.

Tesoro said the union rejected five contracts before negotiations fell apart.

When Tesoro bought the BP refinery in Carson, it reduced retirement benefits and profit-sharing incentives, and removed a required 24-hour notice period to change shifts, Campbell said. The result is that workers are working long hours and are constantly on call, he said.

“Many employees are being forced because of short staffing to work six days a week and 12-hour shifts for weeks on end,” Campbell said. “Then add to that the fact that your days off aren’t really days off, and it’s management-induced stress.

Sandy Mazza is a freelancer. She previously worked for Southern California News Group as a city reporter covering Carson and Hawthorne and specializing in features about Los Angeles' growing Silicon Beach tech, bioscience, and aerospace sectors.